living room update

it sometimes goes that i have a very specific idea for something. for example, i bought two enje shades about six months ago with the idea of hanging them in the bedroom. they’ve been chilling out, leaning up against a corner of the bedroom for…. yeah, six months. this has been on my overall to do list for a long long long time (i knew well before i even bought the enje shades that this is what i wanted.).

BEFORE

so saturday rolled around, and i had no idea of putting enje shades up. i was scooting around, cleaning here, tidying there, putting things to right that had gotten out of hand over the course of the week, and i stopped for a minute to do a little knitting. i sat down on the couch and pulled my knitting towards me, flipped open the laptop to have my colorwork chart up in front of me, and the sun streaming in from the window made it impossible to see my chart.

BEFORE

so i put up one of the enje’s intended for the bedroom. on a complete whim. but the lack of window dressing has been bugging me in there for a looooong time. (true story: i borrowed the drape in the before pictures so that the living room would look a little more pulled together. but then it went back to it’s intended window.)

BEFORE

part of what has held me back for so friggin long is because i wanted to trim the shades down so that they would sit perfectly inside the window frame, and be all flush and pretty. but in my fit of pique at that random ray of sunshine, i didn’t bother with all that business, and just went for it. and i don’t think it bothers me at all? only time shallllll tell! i still need to figure out some kind of curtain-y situation. mostly only for when we want to watch something in the afternoon, again, when the sunlight comes a-streaming in, and the couch is situated just so that all you can see is the glowing window reflected in the tv. the rest of the time, i want as much sunshine as is possible.

AFTER

we got the couch from ashley (you might remember it from the home tour? or you can spot it in their previous apartment here), as it is too long to fit in their living room. i measured the space that our couch sits in, and we had a roomy 2 inches of extra space! ashley made the white slip-covers for it, and they have been suuuuuuuch a blessing. every drop of wine that has gone rogue, every miraculous flip of a spoon carrying chili, everytime baiza has an upset tummy in the vicinity of the couch… all i need to do is pull the covers off and launder them. i am absolutely sold on the merits of slipcovers.

AFTER

the lamps are new, too. the big brass lamp is too big to properly fit anywhere in the apartment. but i saw it gleaming brassily at me in the thrift store for $5 and absolutely could not just leave it there. so big! so brassy! morgan would undoubtedly approve. the white floor lamp is from target. the floor lamp from the before pictures finally died and i pumped my fist triumphantly. floor lamps are too expensive, and too hard to find attractive ones in thrift stores, so the brass one just kind of limped on until it just couldn’t anymore, and i felt validated in actually spending a little bit of money to get something attractive. huzzah!

Related

6 Comment(s)

I do the same thing – I buy something and then it sits around forever. I know I’m going to use it, but it usually just takes a while to make it happen! You did a great job with this room – it looks great!

haha! thanks! we got them from target around halloween. we actually have a ghost trashcan that we affectionately call ‘ghostie’ (how original, right?). the pillows aren’t holding up very well (maybe because they aren’t supposed to be out year-round), so i might have to re-create them.